Elearning and global competency #flatclass #globaled 06/14/2012

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.nctsn.org/resources/public-awareness/world-refugee-awareness-month">World Refugee Awareness Month (June 2012) | National Child Traumatic Stress Network - Child Trauma Home</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Word refugee awareness month is in June. June 20th is World Refugee Awareness Day. this website has videos, and an educator guide for teaching about refugees.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.brycs.org/clearinghouse/Highlighted-Resources-Immigrant-Refugee-Awareness-Instructional-Materials.cfm">Immigrant/Refugee Awareness Instructional Materials</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Here are materials and videos for refugee awareness to use in the classroom. These teacher guides are targeted to the US and Canada.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.refugeeweek.org.au">Refugee Week</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Refugee week is also celebrated in Australia to discuss the contribution of refugees to Australia.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk">Refugee Week | Refugee Week Home</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">the UK celebrates refugee week. This is their website for celebrating "the contributions of refugees to the UK.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.tes.co.uk/resourcecalendar.aspx?nbday=0&nbmth=6&nbyr=2012&evcode=1554">Resources to learn about refugees (for Refugee week)</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Students should understand about refugees - who they are and the situations unique to refugee situations. It is heartbreaking to see the many refugees in our world now. As you talk about global competency topics, don't forget those who have a country but are disenfranchised.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lessonplans">lessonplans</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.letour.fr/2012/TDF/COURSE/us/le_parcours.html">Tour de France 2012 - The Tour 2012</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">The tour de france begins June 30 and ends July 22 and is a fascinating way to study france. Here is the official website in English with a map of where the tour stops. A lovely geography lesson.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/sports">sports</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.tes.co.uk/resourcecalendar.aspx?nbday=0&nbmth=6&nbyr=2012&evcode=32">Tour de France Lessons and information</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">The Tour de France is July 22. While many northern hemisphere schools are out, there are still many who are going to school. Events of common interest, like the tour de france, give great learning experiences for students. If you teach French, this is a must discuss topic. </p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/sports">sports</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lessons">lessons</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/french">french</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Elearning and global competency #flatclass #globaled 06/14/2012

World Refugee Awareness Month (June 2012) | National Child Traumatic Stress Network - Child Trauma Home ...

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Yay, 7000 blog visitors!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><img border="0" height="0" src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzMzk2MjM1MDY3NDImcHQ9MTMzOTYyMzUxMTU*MSZwPTc*MzIxJmQ9Jmc9MSZvPWM4Mjg3Njg1NGNiZjRjNDc5ZmU1/NTE*Mjc1NTQyN2Q3.gif" style="height: 0px; visibility: hidden; width: 0px;" width="0" /><a href="http://www.sparklee.com/"><img alt="logo maker - http://www.sparklee.com" border="0" src="http://img-s3-01.mytextgraphics.com/sparklee/2012/06/13/bf77f545bd53a9ee594abad4aa14f3d3.gif" /></a><br /><br /></div>

Inspiration Yay, 7000 blog visitors!

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Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 06/13/2012

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.rd.com/slideshows/10-fun-father’s-day-activities/">10 Fun Father’s Day Activities | Reader's Digest</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Reader's Digest has a nice set of activities to do with your Dad. This set of pictures and paragraphs would make an interesting conversation with students. You could show the slide and text and discuss each option or use them as a creative writing starter.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/fathersday">fathersday</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.tes.co.uk/ResourceCalendar.aspx?nbday=0&nbmth=6&nbyear=2012&evcode=26">Teaching Resources, Classroom Resources & Lesson Plans - TES Resources</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Father's Day is this upcoming Sunday in the United States. If you're working with kids this week, you'll want to include some father's day activities. Here are 21 ideas to get you started.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/fathersday">fathersday</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.tes.co.uk/resourcecalendar.aspx?nbday=0&nbmth=6&nbyr=2012&evcode=1553">Lesson plans for teaching about bicycles</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">If you're going to talk about the Tour de France, you'll also want to discuss cycling or bicycling (depending upon whether it is competitive or for pleasure.) Use this opportunity to bring in a bike.<br /><br />If you're leading a summer camp or daycamps, the tour de France and bikes are a great thing to discuss and integrate into your summer plans.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lessons">lessons</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/biking">biking</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.tes.co.uk/resourcecalendar.aspx?nbday=0&nbmth=6&nbyr=2012&evcode=32">Tour de France Lessons and information</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">The Tour de France is July 22. While many northern hemisphere schools are out, there are still many who are going to school. Events of common interest, like the tour de france, give great learning experiences for students. If you teach French, this is a must discuss topic. </p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/sports">sports</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lessons">lessons</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/french">french</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=58397">How to start an amazing class blog ~ Stephen's Web</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Start at Stephen Downes review of this post and then move on to the Learn Boost blog to learn how to set up a blog for your classroom and the bennefits.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/blogging">blogging</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/06/how-to-use-video-game-tactics-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29">How to Use Video Game Tactics in the Classroom | MindShift</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Teacher Paul Anderson created a game-based classroom without a game. In TEDxBozeman, he talks about what he did and tthe results.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/gamification">gamification</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 06/13/2012

10 Fun Father’s Day Activities | Reader's Digest Reader's Digest has a nice set of activitie...

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First TeachMeet in KZN held at St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i><br />Quite a number of TeachMeets have taken place around South Africa recently. I have been privileged to attend two in the last month in person and one virtually! Just a reminder about what TeachMeets are again– they are informal free gatherings where the teacher attendees are the presenters in matters concerning technology-integration in the classroom, and the focus is on the needs and wants of those attending. They are normally directed 100% to those attending, and teachers come away excited and stimulated with new ideas. The presentations at TeachMeets are usually 3 minutes in length and whatever is shared is usually made available to the attendees. At TeachMeets we talk about ‘enthusiastic lurkers’ (attendees) and ‘keen beans’ (presenters). </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first ever Kwazulu-Natal TeachMeet was held at St Mary’s DSG School in Kloof on 29 May at 18:00 and was organised by Linda Locke and Sheryl Gordon from St Mary as well as Anne Maw from Crawford Preparatory, North Coast. Microsoft sponsored free learning Suite DVDs, and other items to all the attendees and Obami sponsored a R5000 training voucher for all the staff at the winning school in their product. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27RXCt3lbZEwEo8ZQoTjayvAeGYKxyzGNdbqmvubLVUy5Ikh5SMtLMNoNyS1x0k4gJrGRCk6rpxz7AhyihRgZGtbDLo77GoLHqTXNYBgsyrzAAYX8u52SN2bzM4MRn15jLYhpVibmLpc/s1600-h/image37.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTl3-3J7bbhBJN_mFU8h3N4Jxd-LXEZ9Q39fMHzHA98zPd2hX0FFP5GluV07-5Wne_MBGjDpawrFPIrDBc1cdeXsNmqufRpjVKXJWOI4AfUrqx3gD09iwVjD9XNXZ-NCntojcbX0OjilY/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When you drive through the gates of St Mary’s you are immediately awestruck by the views. The school is at the top of a rise with magnificent views of the surrounding countryside all around. The TeachMeet was held in their beautiful ‘Creativity Centre’ where each Grade spends a day every couple of weeks being exposed to all sorts of creative tasks.  There were about 40 teachers from around Durban and we all sat in groups around tables with three screens in front of us. One was for the Twitter backchannel, one was for the presentations from a PC and one was for the iPad presentations. I rather liked the way the types of presentations were mixed – some from iPads and some from PCs. </span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkBa-4K68GP-zk9vs-1tSM0nF8Ku-HFQoFh9eO9FC_ReJsGaG_pfw46bCwzj5a7YJx6uUgu4_nS24V5bPF-sOdH8wT1A69WRIapliIKwWxOICZdJiuBhz2yRy_gmGHiRAIS8Rpi3S5eg/s1600-h/image5.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDGC7rPKun9IyshutAVNO0o_01COZ_z8JFmyWiEiOqAKykv-KzPzwTjCXrXKODgEMAuH75bqw2LIF6sWjrXztQczZnTBhbqjg-NAIV5vyobbtoATRQRM3clUyZb_sHcm8kK4sGky8sec/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was our table deep in dicsussion<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was great connecting with old friends again.</span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVfX9AId71fKCMUKE3ZW1cvQcA9JRvTFbATdBFR02aSzirHXqnOTMgEV7rG6hf0FGWNbRFBBWvfATN_uvwUzDW7daEB_IKXMF5_qSf13IQbPmSXb7MeOsg4bmnfs7rldfF8fOOVyZmn20/s1600-h/image8.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDzrPZ7v3CmiXXhWfkU8A8EdLDIegtZHw4W57O7RJ-lDbmIkn2sL6Dtfi9ADCDz9BqNEqRYWFBUUw9Qx7xayst0_Z1zCbWPQzWCyFrpXEmP1TjRznV-8xMluurdjP0T1t7NJY4pxfVT4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charli Wiggil from Durban, and Deb Avery from Pietermaritzburg</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While one of the presenters was getting ready, Jonathon Manley, the principal of St Mary’s, showed us how one can easily switch to taking over the data projector screen and presenting from an iPad from wherever you are by means of a little gadget called an Apple TV.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HTX2SwjMCHOGaYjFD2MYrdjx5AeFd1c6j_vAc-soKQH-xP5MiMBLp10REi_VrBuBVqg9QVi49WwlvuFV15m5KxLceMPzRszbCvJgEIGBsZGdUBeNk2q2nNsBwyOPVIWv8nCeH36tecg/s1600-h/image2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKfsobQqnMZ4opH4VX6whLjMATR97_XuNg7WZ9LhulSbsHPpBzSWQ_8IN57Il0sH02DDHN-PU-vsBERa3rppmk4EWp4F1iV4qkEZEsyLuxtB3kJma4c0oOsgS8GjXVLcATWUwMwWDdq0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Presentations </b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />There were 15 presenters, or should I say 'Kean Beans' and I am sure you would be interested to hear what they spoke about. </span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><b>Margie Hartmann </b></u>gave a presentation on how she uses Scoopit (<a href="http://www.scoop.it/">http://www.scoop.it/</a>) which  scoops the web on the topic of your interest and creates a gorgeous online magazine with the topics you ‘curate’. You can follow Margie’s Scoop.it on this link: <a href="http://www.scoop.it/t/bee-bot-lessons-and-ideas">http://www.scoop.it/t/bee-bot-lessons-and-ideas</a></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKR2_3iJ1d-oikpeNafqku7YnmUoQGzSfXGA11ld6iOXl9Xk8Ge6cbVUWD8LwmD9Ddc7ABG3Np25S1mg2R0cezQB-qpuhcZBvf__HGUgY9EHcrMUPQ2bfCoxdq8yg7iUzLEJPKlL3quhs/s1600-h/image11.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXO-poVSfmKkoNY7DBiU-Mp-7HQgrNMEwh8MvnkjbkdHacOn25cS-aluO3dwuqQgnOLSSMKqDQsNq5QhLcq4JYll5nUN04nzpMPFzUtxw29WGGFmMwHjhoSl4QIitRt1rmVYxsQUrGrt0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Anne Maw</u></b> demonstrated how she uses Microsoft’s Songsmith in the classroom. This is a free karaoke programme that picks up your voice and backs it. It is great for educational use. It is available on Microsoft’s learning Suite CD and is also free to teachers who join the Partners in Learning network <a href="http://www.pil-network.com/">http://www.pil-network.com/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4lSUYB4k5dOYnIz42L3P76MAz9TkKZErksgC4Gv678zpg73zfEyvRDuzvNTzBxQ6D0sd4_mD0-_oCVjHjlPyjGRlFTgWKst3H6iLEJFdtxcIFYlkIdOGs1mLs62lovDI_F4YCP_ZCk8/s1600-h/image15.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFzh3k9oOMo48bj8p8eCrq8JeRMF6WbsVghYfJQ5IDIt8JljqOtOb4KZ9C_xQYXTR1BVf9EdmC77kK2X_cikL8Rmi5qjEWyGBvIQrUJMDW91tTsbgmwbLozu7XMI27E_2jecmkzAHNTT4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFvvJ_fLzwkIevGEzIY1mlFRqh5UItixVFZ1YzK5Wl1uvv5AdRLC-6RvZ8Oi8QXynSzUPxGsEsJPksOxcZUb-X_f4_Ed_03KleY358tZeyNzkHuI87NKWj3OXuuq4SxJIO6QlPR964TGI/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7S59acGPc23PKjf7DoJ8pCkadsHIRMiCV9_OwFX6_tJYqAPGpfwLi8p8XTeh7-L9rlXSBktkX_bCDBTorfYmnXZHTM8OpUz3tAdSr5iZhduIAfjcqC7kLD9AnSlZlD99a0p44P2IWg5M/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheryl Gordon (left) and Anne Maw (right) <a href="http://twitter.com/Jonman65/status/207538081434304512/photo/1" style="text-align: left;">tweetpic photo</a></td></tr></tbody></table><b><u>J</u></b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>ean Viary</u></b> spoke about websites for teaching Internet rules and netiquette to Grade 4's and 5's.  “<i>I use much more severe tactics with the Grade 6's and 7's using true videos from you tube about cyber bullying”</i>.<br /><a href="http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/games/privacy_playground/">http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/games/privacy_playground/</a> <a href="http://learninglab.org/life_skills/cyberbullying/">http://learninglab.org/life_skills/cyberbullying/</a> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Charli Wiggill </u></b>demonstrated how his class went about creating their project making tape aids for the blind using cell phones. (They made MP3 Aids for the Blind from  in teams of two with cellphones.)  His project wiki can be viewed at <a href="http://pay-it-forward-for-the-blind.wikispaces.com/">http://pay-it-forward-for-the-blind.wikispaces.com/</a>. Charli was a winner in the recent PIL Forum competition with this project.  As Jonathon Manley commented on Twitter ‘<i>Cellphones in the hands of children and a visionary teacher influences a blind world. Outstanding</i>!” This project is now operating in 10 countries.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH4w0VXxeAw9cIGW9qVHw9_GXmqiLVzZKkflEMINSM6hGPt74qlY0YCfDTINHailzV2MQaH-0ok5V3uG6gJBsiUG5lKAkNaWBn86xGN3UkOOmjSAoVVP0lxa4dkNb2N7j2TacvuMvfDYE/s1600-h/image18.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBX66Pz9GE1Kj2nhcQiB4-CtPQK4YPP19lfFhOh8UQxxWmpJsS2WYkHWiSi_vLBeop5zMqmigVBiq-pLtjQKBwxu14UhMlKuzHFbxea8laAntxhKsfVpk5_og8qPSHQoKz0Z5QIZ9Bg8/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Helen Lass</u></b> who lectures at a local Teachers’ Training College spoke on the neo-millennial brain of the adolescent and how to access it. This was a very inspiring talk. She said, “<i>Up until the age of 23, learners and students have not developed a fully functioning pre-frontal cortex. As a result, I use videos to facilitate understanding and provide for brainstorming and application of theoretical knowledge</i>”.  Helen encouraged us to read the work of Cathy Nuny <a href="http://www//brains.org">http://www://brains.org</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><b>Jonathon Manley</b></u>, principal at St Mary. showed how easy it is to do video splicing using the VLC media player <a href="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html">http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html</a>. He showed how to use VLC for recording clips and then add voiceover. You  can also play videos and then record parts or even take screenshots.  He said it is very easy to use. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLY_8e2yM98eZKKrTvkNM-fXraAq4m4cFHavEe7liiuhsVmhXPWy01u32lOZO2ylvu0tQwexEETjpdpHSmnt6JzQMrAATzq20zWVXt1KETxBkwzEPGbqhdwFPeaFoMurgGsDUTIoL4Hs/s1600-h/image21.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI1dRVi7Iumuyow0S4LG6vNR8ZcyghOZCMsTWTCVdb17D62H8Dt5a8agAgRwT8x8QNR7ARGfsWh0OQS04GX29xTj5rNDJB6u7Sf3EqWIJLCOjAmydKxUtW0JparS-nThDXL0c2sxTlGDs/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Betsy Kee</u></b> showed how she uses SMART Notebook to introduce puberty lessons.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Jo Kinsey</u></b> demonstrated her use of CAM studio to create podcasts of Maths lessons <a href="http://camstudio.org/">http://camstudio.org/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFeEDS_Ezk4pWYXGu2WYc13egKKmEp8zcE7QlWiGtEi2X4tAlEjGRjz1sIZWTUSmCIaEs0IYReCr8gCQ58fgcWu6flZvHpLS-DsE06byqMCJ3Lw5O8cQuCkRu_-xTafNt45XH_MmtaBmU/s1600-h/image29.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhspcGmKn3512iTOD52DzVxR2eCKLgA2V1f-4KtJM3x_8XtO2dHIesjBZ7VujzQK-LXIsw1xj-uLGXFFsY6AEdZ7fSRYeBj4m4gB77FiMiYZ24OGg_me-byF4CktVmic7hLJ4yV1263vFU/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Des Dunstone</u></b> illustrated how she uses the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/book-creator-for-ipad/id442378070?mt=8">Book Creator App</a> on the iPad with her junior classes to create beautiful books. The learners choose the shape, insert text and add page colour. Photos must already be uploaded in the camera roll. It looks so easy to use. These can then be published to iBooks.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlDNAzRBX5DiSKgNz46R_iX4sa7FMtgyznwd_7iwq4Yw5QZMxRkMWTUoF4vpC7mHEgeH4JCKI4L0NoDlmZfBlsjdQMIwL_XRxDGL7URLg42wV5XEsNxLXAsgH9SNRNzlgdJ5JNzZdY_sU/s1600-h/image25.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUW_c6dO8jxs66MN3KQRzi6vfHz7Hib7zTEa7CNQI96bdWls8R9iqFRpN8II7nJhPJ3cDXNiLMWrSuDLdCC84pC_Ci32uJuSUC8F4GxiQvCHMH7CsSe8xxNl-3Hc4S49X4fgnVZiO3nU0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Lindy van der Meulen</u></b> showed how she uses the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inkling/id379351586?mt=8">Inkling App</a> on the iPad for sourcing interactive textbooks for her music lessons. The Inkling site also has the most incredible selection of books relating to other subjects in the curriculum. These can be downloaded with video and sound embedded. There is a small cost involved but also a lot of freeware. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrMBxiGEWtdd1deIPH4hXpet_9y89bfRZEiQ_2V4hWtNyra_Tc-pFHlBmTN92Rp3DoyaXqM81od40HIjXRIugZ72FiaQsj54xdAAdCIJacI5Juy9nP3ce5x_EHHkLsLTyvLLAD5T54Ikw/s1600-h/image33.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMaDphsqd2xqBjZttD-prcGjtuQcaeRUowGkBVcGG-CE2hdKq4pQ_aPEb9BqdKLy5Z7ym26NITg6mGwAbq2L0iydSRXTa4d9nDFXNmMQi-LQXzlHCtc7slkDEXYU9HkibtIztEZ_u55E/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Sally Goldman</u></b> illustrated her use of Obami as a classroom learning management system in her Maths classes. <a href="http://www.beta.obami.com/">http://www.beta.obami.com/</a>. Sally sets Maths problems and the students comment and try to solve them. She also talked about Brainpop: short educational videos that can be used to introduce concepts in all subjects. They have some free videos and "focus for the day" clips. <a href="http://www.brainpop.com/">www.brainpop.com</a> (American) or <a href="http://www.brainpop.co.uk/">www.brainpop.co.uk</a> (Incidentally, one fortunate teacher ‘lurker’, Tanya, won a voucher from Obami valued at R5000 for all the staff at her school to be trained in its use). </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIuTDkcc_yH-J5Tw2GQk7vnjN-D6yu3DK-JCm_lFrhkPY3IDiHKpQyffJaX3K0IwsbYZru_rGRTsLLOtj_Iy0VB34BHjccV0z9Urh48q-ffq-0ROWVMlDZtPgdkU-w7TY_R0-W50TMjA/s1600-h/image41.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEF3xLCGcX3Dc0itWSP9vHOLAFsfYfu53pdfZMKaF0wo-NTrpIff47lI4Va6SdH2riO-rBr0jxx7D6MdT1IsCdroyK2GHFrtnorpxjtL1qQb1PJwqtro3YNm0_I1x4c3D6MalcSecBa3s/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Michelle de Beer</u></b> demonstrated her use of Symbaloo which is a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) to visually organize and share the best of the web with students. <a href="http://www.symbaloo.com/">http://www.symbaloo.com/</a>. This looks great for bookmarking sites using categories and it is accessible anywhere. It is very visual and seems easy to use. </span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80ndlfCWY9QZJQLlZ5i4xXF1CsDAeHvqL8cpFtcty6pNznkkleYgglu9VMWTiQ0NFG4ngd7ULKUR_ZbetEiX6LNRu3tdkqC8Ds8SQWKtU8_FoLqboXabX7eb0EMVrYNFZ2vvjhNyUQPw/s1600-h/image44.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5qo8iU8GhzKi07A3PjJSusg2h7g4xjhluzl2y-e2f13A257W-eA16XSENy_XB6bV_c4qNgSJ0qcOLghPGbTFs0rkO_MJ3IPsVrAVfxRK3hntJRd_oPZ1yf6G3Q64ElLTip9xS_K5quAM/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Fiona Beal</u></b> showed how Classroom Dojo can be used as a motivational tool in the classroom. <a href="http://www.classdojo.com/">http://www.classdojo.com/</a></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpK07vP5WIsWUVEZJEbKxT3l2gBAqcVk0TN-B7XPXozJS2LIiZTbsCA2XMHaH8-zfk-hILJdn1fRt4xjyqE-xpvXvpDPf1OgT1wcDwDmDtI2swswRPqRFPZ09-zNByMwtaJlujwfek_s/s1600-h/image48.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNyxYZ7Osc1U1xQn_IfXdn45qMIlweTWavBUYn2UN4h3aNn8REOPojVIOwlhxO-jbxdlqwgRdk_b150jfZDqHw9vv8Nm10_G5XVUMIYImd1dbG5oLhPvsoZgOjacT9bsF0c_EP2JK-jQw/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Hayley Calverley</u></b> showed how she uses a Galaxy Tablet in the classroom as well as Wizteach: WizTeach is interactive teaching software designed for use with any interactive whiteboard, any interactive projector and any touch screen hardware over a wide range of subject areas. <a href="http://www.wizteach.com/">http://www.wizteach.com/</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><u>Sue Ausmeier</u></b> spoke about the amazing TES website <a href="http://www.tes.co.uk/">www.tes.co.uk</a>. You register for free to be able to access incredible resources. It is great for downloading PowerPoints e.g. on the Olympics and customising them. Sue showed us how she did this with the ‘Who wants to be a millionaire” game (PowerPoint) from The TES website.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Twitterstream</span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What I loved about the twitter stream that evening was that TeachMeeters from Cape Town were following the Twitterstream and they kept popping in and adding their greetings and comments. Arthur Preston, a principal from Cape Town who is the originator of the <i>#edchatsa</i> tweetchat amongst South African teachers on a Monday night from 8:30-9:30 invited the KZN teachers to join the chat. Sheryl Gordon, one of the organisers, asked me  to explain this invitation to the group since I was from Cape Town! I do hope that many of them will join in the conversation  on a Monday night.  </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All too soon the TeachMeet was over. All the people at my table loved the evening.  Melanie Whillier’s comment on Twitter summed it all up “<i>What a fantastic experience, my first teach meet. Learnt so much and came away feeling so inspired</i>.” The organisers assured everyone that they would be organising another TeachMeet in the third term. </span></div>

teachmeets First TeachMeet in KZN held at St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls

Submitted by Fiona Beal Quite a number of TeachMeets have taken place around South Africa recently. I have been privileged to attend two in ...

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Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 06/13/2012

<ul class="diigo-linkroll"> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.rd.com/slideshows/10-fun-father’s-day-activities/">10 Fun Father’s Day Activities | Reader's Digest</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Reader's Digest has a nice set of activities to do with your Dad. This set of pictures and paragraphs would make an interesting conversation with students. You could show the slide and text and discuss each option or use them as a creative writing starter.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/fathersday">fathersday</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.tes.co.uk/ResourceCalendar.aspx?nbday=0&nbmth=6&nbyear=2012&evcode=26">Teaching Resources, Classroom Resources & Lesson Plans - TES Resources</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Father's Day is this upcoming Sunday in the United States. If you're working with kids this week, you'll want to include some father's day activities. Here are 21 ideas to get you started.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/fathersday">fathersday</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/apple-after-steve-jobs-isnt-missing-a-beat.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29">Apple After Steve Jobs Isn't Missing a Beat</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Readwriteweb has a fan-boy-ish overview of Apple's announcements on Monday. It is worth a read no matter your feelings about Apple. They remain the "king of the hill" in technology even in a post-jobs era -- for now.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/apple">apple</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/technology">technology</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/chemistry-experiment-at-east-valley-high-school-sends-four-to-the-hopsital_n_1590539.html">Chemistry Experiment At East Valley High Sends Four To Hospital, School Evacuated</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">If you want to understand why online and virtual experiments are so attractive to science teachers, read this article about how a mistaken identity of a chemical caused the evacuation of an entire high school. In fact, this is one complaint I've heard from science teachers about thee iPad -- many of these online experiments are in flash and have yet to be converted to updated non-flash formatss. </p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/chemistry">chemistry</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/science">science</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://zenhabits.net/control-freak/">» How Being a Control Freak Can Set You Free :zenhabits</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">I read problogger and Zenhabits so this post about letting go of goals intrigued me. I think, however, it isn't necessarily letting go of goals, it is about letting go of the traditional view of success. I agree that truly getting in touch with what you want out of life is essential. Read this post and think but realize that there may be a few semantic issues here that may cause you to want to debate. Get past the semantics into the real meaning and look at your life. Summertime is an important time to reset for teachers.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/goalsetting">goalsetting</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/productivity">productivity</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=58397">How to start an amazing class blog ~ Stephen's Web</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Start at Stephen Downes review of this post and then move on to the Learn Boost blog to learn how to set up a blog for your classroom and the bennefits.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/blogging">blogging</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/2012/06/blackboard-collaborate/">Using Blackboard Collaborate 11 to deliver a global online conference | ALT Online Newsletter</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Stephen Downes pointed to this article from his blog and noted that the conference was well organized. We use Blackboard Collaborate as the underpinning of our Flat Classroom projects as a key essential tool. It is stable and pretty simple to administer after receiving a little training. This best practices article is a must read for anyone working to organized global conferences. From the Association for learning technology.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/blackboard">blackboard</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/globaled">globaled</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/weekinreview/27zimmer.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">The Great Language Land Grab - NYTimes.com</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">"App store" and other words are in contention. If you like language or even current events, there are some fascinating discussions from this New York Times column about the English language. They state their opinion that Apple doesn't have much hope in protecting the term "app store" but I guess the courts will decide. I do, however, think it is absurd that Facebook claimed the word "poke." I distinctly recall poking the fire when I was a kid on campouts. ;-)</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/Apple">Apple</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/Microsoft">Microsoft</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/Google">Google</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/legal">legal</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/06/how-to-use-video-game-tactics-in-the-classroom/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kqed%2FnHAK+%28MindShift%29">How to Use Video Game Tactics in the Classroom | MindShift</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Teacher Paul Anderson created a game-based classroom without a game. In TEDxBozeman, he talks about what he did and tthe results.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/gamification">gamification</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/chicago-teachers-strike-v_0_n_1582547.html">Chicago Teachers Strike Vote: Teachers Union On The Verge Of Authorizing First Strike In 25 Years</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Union politics heat up in Chicago where the teachers, upset over increased hours without increased pay, may strike. Expect such tensions to increase. Unfortunately all such things take our eye off of students where they should be.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/union">union</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/politics">politics</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/09/feature-phones-are-not-the-future/">In Five Years, Most Africans Will Have Smartphones | TechCrunch</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">Collaborating on mobile devices is going to be an essential part of connecting students. We've only begun to understand collaboration but those of us who are doing it now know the challenges inherent in connecting with schools in Africa. If we're going to do it, we'll have to resist "bandwidth" and "device" snobbery and have ubiquitous access for the platforms where we connect. Everything used in collaborating globally will need to be mobile friendly.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/sms">sms</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/smartphones">smartphones</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a></p> </li> <li> <p class="diigo-link"> <a href="http://storify.com/SherwoodKids/social-media-spotlight-for-kidzblastvbs">Social Media Spotlight for #kidzblastvbs (with images, tweets) · SherwoodKids · Storify</a> </p> <p class="diigo-description">This week I'm doing Kidzblast for my church. Here's an example of a storify for those of you who work with nonprofit, school, or church events and want to see an example of how social media can be used but also how you can use events to educate people about social media. Events are a great way to get people's attention and educate them.  I used storify - it is a great service because it notifies people when you are done that they are quoted in the article.</p> <p class="diigo-tags"> <span>tags:</span> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/socialmedia">socialmedia</a> <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/storify">storify</a></p> </li> </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 06/13/2012

10 Fun Father’s Day Activities | Reader's Digest Reader's Digest has a nice set of activitie...

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A report back on a TeachMeet at Somerset House on 23rd May 2012

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><i>Submitted by Fiona Beal</i><br />On Wednesday 23rd May at 17:30 I excitedly attended the TeachMeet in Somerset West at Somerset House Preparatory School. They were hosting the first ever TeachMeet in the Helderberg Basin, organised by their enthusiastic ICT teacher, Siobhan Louw.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyb1YfRor-XvtUBzG-eY-M0ztaKcCz_yXq3baYEdKSEc3-8smveIrno_fI5wiSSf47B6n93hmZbDIpLMmgdWFGYfC2JA98-4et3QZoL4JaObxoQ0Mrcwcng2lAIA7fSVgu_YZpxzbazhA/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBiM5qS7O4U1U73ImXddu18YmzhEJAv_ZDlhDEYEv9vNl0OT7ZzfogQYJn97NBugkcgpVqf0BuRHlL0aXV0TeE-k2QxQZis0iE6TM4v4jcUD0NFy9tzaFNdRn2YXi_f-Tj0636g6udMc/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />There was an excited buzz with at least 30 teachers from the surrounding areas turning up to see what this was all about. We started off with a delicious light meal of a variety of soups and breads and then it was down to business!  There was a Twitter backchannel during the TeachMeet and Siobhan kindly presented each of the eight presenters with a small gift as they completed their presentation.  <br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Presentations</span></b><br /><b><br /></b><br />I was really impressed at how many of the presenters were from Somerset House. They are doing really well in their technology-integration.<br /><br />Clair Craig (from Somerset House) presented on using Blabberize in Grade 4, Her Grade 4 class was reading the Sheep-Pig as their setbook and they really enjoyed creating talking animals as part of their lesson plan.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-j6VkBcCquKOepjAdpKinwnU37Ebp327hLdaV90LBTAXYPyQlRc0Cy34o1npLDFKP7q_Ht725Wl2BRubvtT7F1sOvNmORLXjU-nsaxSEgnUuTx5xUtyZHo2-5sVzksYugzzCKO5TtEA/s1600-h/image2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBljqGefb2kWLsf4P0yxv-XxP599AHh7xq-XvyD6BPlMq8tDOhh1Bi3Xh96pRBw6oomqIFsmFUm6YxrS17f4qJkmdri0otKHAEMSIFDI4eT6rlitsF7TQgI0FS0W45-G1wR8l87kpswtc/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><br /><br />Debbie Underwood (from Somerset House) spoke on the MimeoView. This is not a free tool but she certainly convinced us that it is almost indispensible in a classroom!<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMO4YeizHnYz-kU51svHvpbAmnfVNzdTZ9hGECaknMSUn8mkBYfp0-oJV1Jq_WknxLrxzIj5uZy4IsWNm908vE7FUy1fg4m5eRjI8fLh8nAUIWustrU1OKb0JUEhVo5aU9A0y33LcMbLI/s1600-h/image7.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2YjIBKRkusYBg5_ztLensZaY2No3kFVlSbejhEN50Q56b6PA5WMpoLvODyxkiNkVveswUuk2t7F9KK7q7rx1bVKL-Mwf9Br3Ocz37LJFri5UTDyIS5qIKG9uUMObfQuQLOmXOh4pz5A/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br />Fiona Beal (that's me!) spoke on Classroom Dojo – a motivational tool for your classroom. This is a really cute way of rewarding individuals in a class or positive behaviours (and also losing points for negative behaviours).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOA56ddp-nk63dVqN8em0temvXWEBXpJMFF44O6JlRCnL3KORlZi_yWfNivOv0U7JxHA9f9QdL0G_yxyO7MVNqqJyQYVSI1OZkuwWdNpLnQpEL0x-gt5UOy2KVAtwsTMoRrozzqugB_Ds/s1600-h/image11.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_E9VN1r_o9kDelXaVRqfQUg4KV2Ka0YqLuPMnjCQ7rtszv7NJiPC0nCWF7PrIEM56rY0iG8cdkZJo173XRArz0hOXgQzxcmHmIv6pJm95vrsOyABlyIbpwAnpOkVd3bnPzvuaqavrQaI/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br />Jenny Martin (from Somerset House) gave two presentations, one on Word Magnets and one on Wordstash which she says is a teacher's dream to use. Both these amazing webtools can really enhance a Language teacher’s lessons. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bz-hXqPUemyseKFqFSaaM5NvivDn1IpAduYomnCbhyxdnizbbTko5kdefYMn4onFlG_SD9PEdfO-3pIvgniTOxE0nqBZuAzxHgPRRXdz2Uz1Kveg-3N0Xfr4DcpuAXqKc6GDcwIRSzE/s1600-h/image15.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4y55BIkYRtLfRfsxabDuWRWsPrSvWSSy2pUJF-KJiFi4je7Xz2DbEzNlEl-3_gMGbfIYMsgow2KyQ8HOfLNWeIjV6DHE8Y5OoISGW7Kwn9uJPN_46z237UBUFtbi0N9grdpsB2PnS9E/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYk6GrlGAJ5Upv97XGATlT4wnzO9DIuq-31Gmtjwhos-vi0UTGFvXZhTOTuqx9wT9tQenttkk6AP2VIdAyMYHQovUryrzO6RNPLNU-xdfrgblNewWBmQJQrn_MNkzHPZuK3hocivbSz0/s1600-h/image19.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheXZ2Zd9VJ_D1SyZi-5a1EZ8BFz6_nonS2FTDu2ydcGPxuvHA_Irq34lW5wU3upLTQpSEn5CamonXh8cBhHOwVfkUYz_eyu8YN3YeSM_Vo4cfsJkd8Us7-HvIvn8O2dLMJX5tDyi1cCf0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br />Pam Roberts (from Somerset House) spoke on her use of Purple Mash in Grade 1 for Mother's Day cards. Purple Mash is the online version of the 2Simple software. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2Yi9dPKjL2Q-Aiu2GgWJKaRvqvZm-LstZ69rNR2ZuVSwp4pNYPejmBKV-StyBzbao3X-sZ4iABkefldTnciAldasLVvO7noMibOoR5KUZ5HcAPAeI1JLl0BWoSx4Py-W0cSz7HeYO8w/s1600-h/image23.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd8oQWqj5tMR_0zXH1eiD2s0uo3u5tGdiQjqgxIX1mWbXpYd-v_3934zul3ASYR8S4PAxY4x9H6vrGoMuaiZBzdwMSBZ8oeb7qVEYPMPVdpnqUicQgnUD1z0TxPkklMjPcgq1POED69Wg/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><br />Siobhan Lowe, the organiser (from Somerset House) spoke on how she successfully used Google Docs for a collaborative assignment. Siobhan also mentioned how her Grade 7s were enjoying finding relevant TED talks and writing brief reviews on them. If you would like to see which TED talks they enjoyed visit <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/thattechteacher.com/shtedreviews/technology">this</a> link. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTohWr3WUW4OL0_wdg37ewq5WJzm5smfcTHPHEHVzc0ekFX4x8AG4RY_eCNu3rhhugEny1YbGLoA2cYTCbiMBrfGa_6cKV25C657cFBxpYNHFjXjvDVT94Oio-Ft1WYHVGb_RGdoGdgpk/s1600-h/image26.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Lf8naFbctlB1vPDrrX3rzbBCpqdIVDrI4aNPtyR8-W5181SI_QrAMfi432Fm4BszZVdL5TPbc_tDwsRZmeXz3YQAioPgLoQZuko473QjHckBEc1wQwCXFnvZCPu6NI4Xp1DpAMf6SWQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Michelle Botha (from Somerset House) also gave two presentations. She spoke on using Popplet to teach creatively about triangles in Grade 7. You can look at that presentation online: <a href="http://popplet.com/app/#/103497">http://popplet.com/app/#/103497</a>. Michelle also presented a very impressive writing project she did using stop animation and Windows Live Moviemaker. She said that the students actually taught her all the inns and outs of stop animation.<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw2sed4iGuU2tabMCToAAk34DzHlhlq2SfjGxbWqc4SRfVcMmAgSOy7fWghQn8BxKorWksL6c2JCA8ZtXquspZf0ivo19qV-GyZtR9WwuAXzok8tkF7iDYGcwvv3xfKU_P4BOIj8t-ghc/s1600-h/image30.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1TTKVzN38c3QV9h_uomlwCaA24kzshA0W7NvgGVuhWkzQ13c8-6iEzxge1t2z8wpgl_8I8nfq3awgSJFDD6M9Izr48BEmC-HMx_-PWE1TF_eQQZm-EesaFFHsSjjK4VhxGKVnrDSSs2M/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="242" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Siobhan’s report back</span></b><br /><b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><br />Siobhan Lowe, the organiser,  wrote a blog post about the Teachmeet which she called '<b>‘Host a teachmeet and you’ll create an enriching PD opportunity’</b> <br /><b><br /></b><br /><b>“</b>This past week saw Somerset House host its first teachmeet. Inspired by teachmeets attended by some of our staff at Elkanah House over the last year, we decided that hosting one of our own would be a good opportunity to expose more of our teachers to the sharing and learning experience that a teachmeet offers. <br /><br />Undoubtedly, one of the biggest challenges facing modern education is getting school staff to buy in and support the use of technology in classrooms. There are many reasons for this: age, fear, time shortages, tradition, ineffective resources and lack of personal exposure to technology. In my experience, it’s a combination of these factors that keep teachers from using and embracing many of the contemporary technological tools that have not only already changed the way we live, but that will most definitely impact on how today's youth succeed and progress through their own lives.<br /><br />In our school, as in many others, the historical reluctance to use technology to supplement the education we provide is multifaceted. Recent technical improvements to our school’s computer system have seen a growth in the confidence levels in our teachers. Coupled with positive staff development and support from colleagues, it has been inspiring to see more of our teachers improve and  increase their innovative use of technology…. Read more <a href="http://www.thattechteacher.com/past-blog-posts">here</a> on Siobhan’s blog <a href="http://www.thattechteacher.com/">http://www.thattechteacher.com/</a>.<br /><br />We most certainly look forward to more TeachMeets in the Helderberg basin! Thank you for this initiative Siobhan!<br /><br />PS. Since writing the post Siobbhan has advertised the next TeachMeet for Wednesday 29th August at 5:30 pm. Please keep watching Siobhan's blog for further details <a href="http://www.thattechteacher.com/">http://www.thattechteacher.com/</a><br /><br /><br /></div>

teachmeets A report back on a TeachMeet at Somerset House on 23rd May 2012

Submitted by Fiona Beal On Wednesday 23rd May at 17:30 I excitedly attended the TeachMeet in Somerset West at Somerset House Preparatory Sch...

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